


Hate me Tomorrow

by PrintDust



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hiatus, LoRick, Season 2, Season 3, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:58:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrintDust/pseuds/PrintDust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You can go back to hating me tomorrow," she promised, her eyes blurring with tears.</p><p>And he did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hate me Tomorrow

They'd been sleeping in a hay storage unit for two nights and despite the sneezing and itching, the accommodations were surprisingly agreeable in her current condition. Lori smoothed one hand over her belly. She didn't know how far along she was exactly - if she did, that would make things a lot less complicated - but she was definitely in the homestretch. The baby had dropped low into her pelvis and it was getting really difficult to keep up with the rest of the group.

In fact, it was getting difficult to do a lot of things, especially sleep.

But the hay definitely beat the frozen dirt ground or the passenger side of the car. Just thinking about the cramped quarters tempted her to stretch out her limbs and back.

The other perk of sleeping in the storage unit was that it was solid. There were no windows and the only door was solid steel. The fortitude gave the group peace of mind and allowed them to relax their night watches. They all breathed a sigh of relief at the idea that they would be getting a full night's sleep.

Lori looked over at Rick on the other side of the room. She frowned when she found him sitting with his back against the wall, his forearms resting on his knees. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted back, but she could tell he wasn't sleeping; he was worrying again.

They were running low on food, dangerously so, and they would have to move on soon. Leaving the safety of the storage unit would be hard on everyone.

Using the support beam next to her sleeping spot, she pulled herself up and got awkwardly to her feet. Her back and hips protested but she forced herself to make her way over to her husband. She was careful as she stepped over the obstacle course of sleeping bodies.

Carl was the last one. He'd taken to sleeping as close to his father as possible… which was – not so - coincidentally as far away from her as he could get. She paused for a moment to watch him sleep. Tears stung her eyes and she turned away, feeling her heart twist painfully in her chest. He couldn't stand to even look at her and she didn't know how to repair the damage

By the time she reached his side Rick was watching her in the dim red light of the glow sticks that they had strung around the room. His face was deadpan as he looked at her and her heart clenched. She shouldn't have come over, she'd made a mistake… she couldn't seem to stop making them.

His anger had become like the walls of this building; it was his refuge from the danger outside - from her. Rick had never been great at communicating with her when there was even a hint of confrontation, and so they had spent the entire winter in a silent bitter state.

Maybe she was a masochist, she entertained, awkwardly sliding down the wall to sit beside him. He would reject her again and hurt her, and she'd end up stifling her tears and sobs into her blanket. But she couldn't walk away from him without trying to do something to ease his frayed mind.

"You should try to get some sleep," she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm. When he flinched her hand froze and she redirected it to rest on her belly.

He grunted but didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on the floor in front of them. She wanted to apologize, for everything, but when she took a breath to speak he got to his feet and stalked across the room and disappeared between two large bales of hay.

Closing her eyes she let her head drop back against the wall, a little harder than necessary. She took a deep breath and let the sting of rejection bite its way through her like poison. She knew that he was upset about her reaction on the road after the farm. And she understood - it hadn't been one of her finer moments. But if he wouldn't even talk to her...

After a few moments she used the wall as leverage to get to her feet again then made her way back over to her bed, her hands bracing her aching back. As she passed the gap into which he had disappeared she was startled as a hand shot out and closed around her forearm. She pulled backwards and reached for her revolver only to find her back pocket empty.

"Shhh," the hand loosened and Lori's almost sank to the ground, her legs quivering beneath her.

"Jesus," she pressed one hand to her pounding heart and pulled the other out of his grasp to wrap it around her belly. She hadn't been the only one startled; the baby shared its displeasure as it twisted and kicked rapidly. "You scared me."

"Come," Rick took her by the elbow and pulled her into the shadows to join him. He led her between the hay bales, the space so tight that both walls brushed against her hips and she had to cross her arms to keep the straw from scratching them. Lori couldn't see anything in the dark and each uneasy step made her nervous that she would trip over something and fall. 

Eventually the walls gave way into a larger space and she reached out to feel her way in the new surroundings. But instead of finding the wall, her hands collided with the solid surface of her husband's chest.

"Sorry," she whispered, but when she moved to pull her hands away, his closed around them and held them in place.  
He backed her up a couple of steps until she was pressed against the wall with her arms pinned on either side of her head. She felt a rush of fear that died instantly when he leaned into her, his lips capturing hers.

Lori was too stunned to kiss him back at first, but when his fingers skated down her sides and around her back to hold her she relaxed and fell into his rhythm. With her hands now free, she looped them over his shoulders and repositioned herself so they could accommodate her belly. His warm mouth moved over her jaw, leaving a trail of moist kisses, then down to her throat where he sucked on her pulse-point.

She slammed her eyes shut and gave into the pleasure that his ministrations provided, but when his hands moved over her abdomen towards her zipper she opened them again. "Rick," she whispered, pushing him back a little. "We should stop."  
His sigh was one of frustration. "Why?” he ground out, reaching for her pants again.

Lori shook her head. "Because… somehow I feel like I'm seducing you," she explained, reaching to still his hands. Her stomach was in tight knots and she felt like she was going to puke. He had gone back to not looking at her, his eyes boring into the spot just over her left shoulder. She reached out to touch his cheek, but he flinched and turned his face away. Lori continued, "And you still hate me…"

"I want this," he asserted, his body still and unmoving besides the rapid rise and fall of his chest.

Her hand dropped to her side and Lori nodded. "But-," he recoiled at the word and she closed her hand around his forearm to stop him from leaving. "You're not ready to let go of the anger…" she sighed, looking down at the distance between them.  
Rick nodded stiffly.

Lori's eyes drifted up to look at his face again. She could barely see it, though her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark. He looked impassive, but she could see right through the exterior to the hurt inside. She wanted to do anything to ease it, even if just for a little bit. "Okay," she conceded, guiding him one step closer. She draped her arms over his shoulders again and initiated their next kiss.

His body melded against hers with her permission. He found her pulse-point again and his fingers slid under the hem of her shirt.

"You can go back to hating me tomorrow," she promised, her eyes blurring with tears.

And he did.


End file.
